Means for opening doors.



M J. FLANNERY.

MEANS FOR OPENING DOORS. APPLICATION FILED lULY 26. 1915.

1,171,032. Patented Feb. 1 91s.

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M. J FLANNERY.

MEANS FOR mums 000m.

APPLICATION FILED JULY36, 1915. 1 171,032 Patented Feb. 8,1916.

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MATTHEW J. FLANNERY, OF MATTESON, ILLINOIS.

MEAIVS FOR OPENING DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1915.

Application filed July 26 1915. Serial No. 41,891.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MATTHEW J. FLAN- NElil',a citizen of the United States, residing at Matteson, in the county of(look and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Means forOpening Doors, of which :the following is a specification.

My invention relates to im 'n'ovements in means, in connection withsliding doors, for forcing the doors to initial open condition when,under.v the conditions presented, the doors in being closed are jammedtight, or otherwise present undue resistance to opening, as forexamplefl in the case of freight car doors. 1 My object, generallystated, is to provide or use on freight cars or other structures whereinthe doors are apt to require the application of relatively great forceto initially open them,.in'iproved means for initially forcing the dooropen.

Referring to theaccompanying drawingsFigure .1 is broken face view of afreight car showing a part of the door-jamb and the door thereofequipped with my improved door shifting means, shown in combination withfastening means, the door being shown in closedposition and fastened inplace by said means. Fig. 2 is ail-enlarged section taken at the line .2on Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a similari'ie\\',-showing the catch of the fastening means released from thekeeper. Fig. 4 is a section taken atthe line 4 on Fig. l and viewed inthe direction of the arrow; and Fig. 5, a section taken at the line 5 onFig. 3 and viewed in the direction of the arrow.

According to the preferred illustrated embodiment of my invention thedoor-opening means comprises a bar. 23 on the door 12, this-bar having abearing in an aperturcd lug 24 on the casing 14 hereinafter describedand guidcdly confined at another point between the edge of the casingand a' lug to-thereon. The left-hand end of the harQ3 is adapted toengage the wall of the v door-opening in which the door 12 operates andto provide for this manner of opera tion, the bar 23 is by preferenceprovided with a rearwardly extending fiapge or lip 29 which is locatedin a recess 30 in an edge of j'lie door and opposes the wal ot thedooroponing as shown. Any suitab e means for "actuating the bar 23 toforce i against the wall of the door-opening to force the door open. maybe novided, those illustrated and which I prefer to employ, comprising alever 31 which is journaled on a pin 32 separed to. and extendinglaterally from, the door 12, the lever being connected at its upper endwiththe right-hand end of the bar "23 through the medium of a pin 33securcdto the lever 31 and operating in a slot 34 in the bar 23. In thepreferred embodiment illustrated my improved door-opening means areprovided in combination with locking means for the door and so arrangedthat upon a single act of swinging the lever 31 to the right In Fig. l,the lock is first released and thereafter the door pushed open. In thearrangement shown a keeper, represented at (3 is provided, this keeperbeing shaped as shown to conform to oneof the side rails 7 of thedoor-jamb of the car, the keeper being provided with apertures S toreceive bolts 9 for rigidly securing the keeper in position. The keeper(}"is provided with a shouldered portion 10 which extends inwardlybeyond the side rails 7 and is united with a plate-section 11,;whichextends in an upwardly inclined direction rearwardly from the shoulder10, this plate being provided with two apertures l3 and 1:5. The fastcmin; means also involves a catclrdcvice which is carried by the door Vi-this device being formed of a base member 14 and the catch proper 15.The member '14 is secured to the faceof the door, as by screws 10, andis provided with a crosspiecc l7 engaged by. the catch proper 15 under.the action of the springl8 located at one side of the cross piece; 17.The end of the catch 15 pposite to tliat engagcd by the spring 18 ispro.- .vidcd' with a shoulder lfl'from which an upwardly inclined plate20 extends. The parts described are so proportioned that when the dooris closed. as represented. the shoulder 15 will interlock with theshoulder 10 of the keeper. and the plate 20 willlic against the platell. in which position a pcr tux-es 21 and 22 in the plate 20 will regislcr with th: apertures l and 13, permitting the. fastening means to besealed, if desired. It being understood from the foregoing that byreason of the construction the parts as shown and describedQthc 1.: h ivv automatically intcrlockinglv closing the door 12 and preventingopening of the door until the shoulder 19 has been released from thekeeper. I

In the construction illustrated the catch 15 is operated to release itfrom the keeper by the movement of the bar 23 to the left in Fig. 1, theparts being so arranged, that when the bar 2;) is actuated the catchwill be first releasedfrom the keeper and furthcr movement of saidmember will force the then unlocked door to initially open condition. Inthe construction illustrated this is accomplished by means of a cam 26on the bar 23 adapted to ride against a camsurface 27 provided on a lugextending laterally from, and secured'to, the catch I5, thesecam-surfaces moving against each other to swing the catch 15 away fromthe keeper and against the action of the spring 18 to release thefastening means, upon shifting the bar 23 to the left, in the drawings.The lip '29 on the bar 23 is so positioned that it is spaced from thewall of the door-opening. when the device is in normal position, Fig. 1,a distance sullicient to insure the disengagement of the catch 15 fromthe keeper before force is applied through the bar 23 to force the dooropen.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that my improved deviceis simple and economical of construction, will operate positively, anddoes not present any objectionable obstructions especially to thoseworking about the cars in the loading and unloading of the latter.

'hile I have illustrated and described a part'cular embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to be understood as intending to limit itthereto, as the same may be variously modified and altered withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with members relatively movable toward and away fromeach other, of means for forcing said members apart comprising ashiftable device sup ported on the outer face of one of said mem ers tomove toward and away from the other of said members and carrying arearwardly-extending lug movable therewith,

one of said men'ibers containing a recess in its edge-portion opposingthe other of said members, and opening through the outer face of themember and extending rear- \vardly of the outer face of the other memberand into which recess said lug projects, said shittable device beingadapted to engage at its lug the edge portion of one of said membersother than "the one carrying it and force said members apart whenactuated.

The (JOll'llllIltltlOll with members rela tively movable toward and awayfrom each other. of means for forcing said members apart comprising ashittable device supported on the outer face of one of Said members tomove toward and away from the other of said members and. carrying arearwardly-extending lug movable therewith, one of said memberscontaining a recess in its edge-portion opposing the other of saidmembers, and opening through the outer face of the member and extendingrcarwardly of the outer face of the other member and into which recesssaid lug projects, said shittable device being adapted to engage at itslug the edge-portion of one of said n'ien'ibers other than the onecarrying it and force said members apart when actuated, and a leverpivoted on the mem ber carrying said shiltable member and connected withthe latter for operating it.

MATTI l El/V J. FLANN ER Y.

In presence of- Ilnxnr IIEINER, ll. IA. Sonorone.

